Detachable hood for freight-car doors.



No. 764,215. PATENTBD JULY 5, 1904. n. TATUM.

DETAOHABLE HOOD FOR FREIGHT OAR. DOORS.

' APPLICATION FILED D30. 5. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

[NVEA TOR J N B 1 V O Attorney Patented July 5, 1904:.

PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL TATUM, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

DETACHABLE HOOD FOR FREIGHT-CAR DOORS- SPEGIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 764,215, dated July 5, 1904.

Application filed December 5, 1903. Serial No. 183,931. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL TATUM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Detachable Hoods for Freight-Car Doors;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in hoodsfor car-doors; and it has for its object the provision of asimple andefiicient form of hood which is especially adapted for use in connectionwith the doors of freight-cars of ordinary construction, the form of thehood being such as to adapt it to be quickly-attached to the car, theupper longitudinal edge of the hood being hooked under and retained inposition by the fasciastrip which extends along the eaves of the car.

To this end and to such others as the invention may pertain the sameconsists in the peculiar form of the metallic hood and in thecombination therewith of the fascia-strip of a car, all as will be morefully hereinafter described, shown in the accompanying drawings, andthen specifically defined in the appended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portionof an unfinished freight-car with my improved form of detachable hoodapplied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a like view taken upon the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Reference being had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates the side of an unfinished freight-car of ordinaryconstruction, being provided with the usual fasciastrip B, which extendsalong the entire-length of the car at the eaves thereof. The lower edgeof this fascia-strip is cut away upon its under and rear portions toform a recess C,

adapted to receive the longitudinal upper curved edge K of the metallichood. The said hood K consists of a single strip of suitable sheet metalbent longitudinally to form a hood or housing for the roller-bearingsprovided at the upper edge of the car-door, the extreme upper edge K ofthe hood being curved rearward and upward to adapt it to enter the spaceC beneath and to the rear of the lower edge of the fascia-strip B. Theends of the hood are preferably held in place by means of transversebolts N, one of these bolts being provided at each end of the hood; butin case of door-openings of unusual length, such as are sometimesprovided upon cars for special uses-such as hay-cars, &c.-an additionalsupport or fastening for the hood may be provided at a pointintermediate of its ends, as shownin Fig. 3 of the drawings, thisconsisting of a strip of metal, as H, havingits upper end secured to thefascia-strip B and its lower free end bent down over the upper edge ofthe hood, where it serves to hold the hood against outward movement. Theends of the hood K are made to conform to the brackets D D, throughwhich brackets or blocks the retaining-bolts N are passed.

It will be seen that in order to remove the hood from the car it willsimply be necessary to Withdraw the bolts N, when by pulling outward thelower edge of the hood its upper edge will be released or unhooked fromthe fascia-strip, and it will also be seen that the hood may be asquickly and easily replaced by causing its upper edge to enter the slotU and replacing the retaining-bolts N.

By utilizing the fascia-strip, which is a part of the construction ofthe car and is commonly employed in the construction of freightcars ofthe class in which sliding doors are employed, I am able to dispensewith the cumbersome and frequently expensive protcction to the hood thathas heretofore been commonly employed. The relationship between thefascia-strip and the hood is such as to at that time-effectually preventwater from entering beneath the upper edge of the hood, and as there isno securing means whatever employed for attaching the hood to thefasciastrip it will be possible to at any time quickly and easily removethe hood from the strip, as will be readily understood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a car having a fasciastrip thereon, the loweredge of the latter having a groove with a curved wall, a doorhood withits u pper longitudinal edge curved to conform to and engage the curvedwall of said groove, a support for the hood and means for fastening thehood to the car, as set forth.

2. In combination with a car having a fasciastrip, the lower inner edgeof which is grooved and having a curved wall, bracket-supports 5 DANIELTATUM.

\Vitnesses:

WILLIAM H. Cox, BENJAMIN W. BERRY.

